Navvies at work on Brackley viaduct

L2892. Thought to have been taken in 1896, this wonderful photograph shows navvies at work on the top of Brackley viaduct. With the structure's 22 brick arches having been completed, these men are busy laying the spandrel walls. When the viaduct was demolished in 1978, its reluctance to succumb to the power of drills and explosives surprised both contractors and observers alike: a great testament to the navvies and engineers responsible for its construction.